The Girl with the Whispering Shadow

The Girl with the Whispering Shadow is the second instalment of D. E. Night???s ???The Crowns of Crosland???.
Following on from (a couple of days in fact) from the events of the first book, Ivy and Rebecca have finished their first year in the Halls of Ivy and are planning to spend their summer holidays in their respective places. Rebecca is off home, and Ivy is going???.to the place that has no name.
Well, that???s not strictly true because it does have a name, but it is a secret. In fact, it???s so secret that it doesn???t appear on any map and it is shrouded in darkness. However, there???s danger ahead (well there would have to be wouldn???t there, we do need some story after all!) as Ivy is tasked to find more pieces of the Kindred Stone, and to evade the Dark Queen???s plans
The Girl with the Whispering Shadow sees D. E. Knight gaining more of a firmer footing in this the second book, and whilst there is still some information to be passed on, particularly in relation to the town of Belzebuthe, which sometimes slows the pace down a little, this is a lot more of a focused novel that doesn???t have the added weight of introducing the reader to the world that she has created.
You have to mention the characters in a review don???t you, and this was the part that I couldn???t wait to get to. I have to say that D. E. Knight writes some fantastic characters and Ivy is a marvellously strong female character for this particular age group. However, not only that, but she also populates the rest of Crosland with equally strong characters, and whilst I am out of the intended demographic for this book, my reading changes are the same as when I was younger. I want a book with a good plot that keeps me interested, good characters and plenty of magic, and with this series you get this in spades.